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Miracle Baby Programme brings heart surgeries to children outside Klang Valley

GEORGE TOWN: The Miracle Baby Programme launched at Penang Hospital today is a game-changer in ensuring children with heart conditions get the surgery they need, especially those outside the Klang Valley.

Health director-general Tan Sri Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said about 5,000 babies, or eight cases per live birth, are born with congenital heart conditions every year and require surgical corrections.

He said unfortunately, facilities to treat these children were limited to the Klang Valley, one of which is the National Heart Institute.

He said the facilities can only treat 2,500 patients a year, forcing the remaining patients to seek treatment elsewhere or wait for surgery and face risks to their mobility and mortality.

The waiting time for heart surgery at Penang Hospital, the regional cardiothoracic centre in the northern peninsular, is about 10 months, with many patients referred to facilities in the Klang Valley and elsewhere.

Dr Noor Hisham said over the years, the Health Ministry had prioritised this issue and taken numerous steps to address it, including immediate and long-term solutions, such as sending patients to India for treatment in a cross-border collaboration with hospitals there.

At the same time, plans were implemented to train surgeons and paramedic officers to be competent in highly specialised cardiothoracic surgical care.

The ministry recognises the need for good congenital heart surgical services outside the Klang Valley.

"The Miracle Baby Programme is a brilliant, out-of-the-box initiative initially mooted in 2016, leading to a site visit in 2020 and eventually resulting in a collaboration between dedicated cardiothoracic surgeons in the ministry with Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) and a team of doctors from Sri Sathya Sai Sanjeevani Hospital (SSSSH), a centre renowned for great congenital heart surgery work.

"I appreciate SSSSH's mission of curing the sick, healing with compassion and competence and promoting educational, medical and surgical excellence with dedication and devotion — very similar to the ministry's vision.

"I am proud to announce that this project will involve a visit by the surgical and anaesthetist team from the SSSSH, working together with the ministry's cardiothoracic surgical team in Penang Hospital to perform more than 20 congenital heart surgeries for needy children over a period of two weeks, involving training, knowledge sharing and education for all levels of staff of the Penang Hospital team.

"As a principle healthcare provider in Malaysia, the ministry is proud to support and spearhead efforts to bring congenital cardiac surgery closer to the rakyat to improve our services despite the limitations and challenges.

"InsyaAllah, with the success of this project and good outcomes for the patients and happy parents, the ministry will facilitate further cooperation with our friends from India and UTAR in pursuing this noble objective," he said in a pre-recorded speech at the launch of the Miracle Baby Programme today.

Present were Penang Health Department director Datuk Dr Ma'arof Sudin, UTAR Education Foundation board of trustees chairman Tan Sri Dr Sak Cheng Lum and Sri Satya Sai Health and Education Trust chairman Dr Sreenivas Chodagam.

The Miracle Baby Programme pilot project started on Nov 28 and will last for two weeks.

Up to today, 12 patients have undergone surgery, including three from Sabah.

One of the beneficiaries of the Miracle Baby Programme, Eisya Marzuki, 16, said she was grateful to be given a new lease on life.

The Form Four student from SMK Hamid Khan said her health deteriorated a few months ago, where she got tired easily and had rapid heartbeats even when engaging in light activities.

"My mother took me to the doctor and it was discovered that I have a hole in the heart. I never showed any symptoms before this although I lead a very active lifestyle and take part in sports.

"I am looking forward to going back to school," she said at the launch event.

Eisya's mother, Siti Norazidah Mohd Hamzah, 41, said she was grateful that her daughter could now lead a normal life.

"With the surgery, my daughter will get to live longer and enjoy a better quality of life. All I want is for her to be in the pink of health always and forever."

Iris Sim Jia Xin, 8, a Year Two pupil at SJK (C) Beng Teik (Pusat) in Bukit Mertajam, said she felt good after the surgery.

"I feel very okay."

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